More Red Bull concerns raised with ‘more problems than meets the eye’ verdict delivered
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Dutch racing driver Jeroen Bleekemolen is concerned about Red Bull as he thinks Jos Verstappen’s post-Zandvoort complaints are a sign that things are “no longer rock solid”.
After a tumultuous start to the year off the track but a solid one on it, Red Bull’s fortunes have shifted in recent races with the off-track drama silenced while on the track they’re fighting to keep pace with McLaren.
Red Bull declared ‘no longer rock solid’
Such has been the reversal of fortunes on the track that Max Verstappen has gone from seven wins in ten Grands Prix to five races without a P1, and in that period he only twice managed to finish on the podium.
It’s his longest winless streak since 2020, and his father Jos Verstappen clearly blames Red Bull.
Losing the Dutch Grand Prix by more than 20 seconds to Lando Norris, the former F1 driver told Bild that it is “not surprising when you regress the car.
“You can’t sugarcoat it anymore,” he added, “the situation is serious. Max won’t be happy with having a car like this. Now it’s up to Horner to get the team back on track.”
It has Bleekemolen pondering if the disquiet from back in February and March is “rumbling” on over at Red Bull.
“It’s rumbling there, and there’s a lot going on,” he told NOS. “At the beginning of the year, a lot of things were going on behind the scenes.
“Not everyone is on the same page. You can also see that from statements made by Jos Verstappen, who simply says so openly in the media.
“It is no longer rock solid.”
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Red Bull have ‘more problems than meets the eye’
However, his fellow NOS pundit Jan Lammers believes Red Bull’s current woes stem from the car and, more to the point, their penalty for breaching the budget cap in 2021.
Left with significantly less development time than McLaren and their other rivals, he says it is showing on the track.
“This does make you think. It’s suddenly very difficult to talk about the Max factor and the magic, when you’re suddenly in such a situation. He has absolutely not forgotten how to drive,” he said.
“What happened there? The penalty they got for exceeding the budget ceiling was perhaps the precursor to the graph going in the wrong direction. That’s why they missed wind tunnel time.
“The other teams keep coming up with upgrades, so you wonder: did Red Bull miss an upgrade because of less wind tunnel time or all those people leaving?
“Maybe there was a gap there and they are now always coming back late. Other teams have taken two steps where they have taken one.
“Red Bull undoubtedly have more problems than meets the eye.”
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